From Flat to Fat

This workshop will focus on designing and slip casting complex forms with “simple” molds. Our goal is to explore new or latent ideas. Participants should come with a clear goal and willing to take risks. This two-week workshop will be an intuitive and practical exploration of how to work with patterns and molds, beyond the repetition of forms. The emphasis will be on using paper cut-outs to develop forms for molds and casting, and two-dimensional pattern-making for constructing three-dimensional forms.

This exploration will include teapots, hollow cast and solid cast forms, cups and saucers, lidded vessels, and other forms. We will use paper cut-out shapes to develop the designs and build the prototypes with a variety of different systems and materials. We will also make sprigs, stamps, and play around with altering castings.

Andrew will demonstrate designing with paper cut-out shapes, making prototypes, mold making, and slip casting. There will be daily reviews of the progress with each student, brief lectures on design/glaze formulation, discussions, slide presentations, and critiques. While participants’ work will yield objective results, the underlying process for each student should include the consideration of process, visual language, and use. The formal language of these processes will focus on shape, form, mass, and volume. In addition, class discussions will be specifically about use, ergonomics, surface, touch, the context of use, and the complexity of orchestrating these concerns into exciting works that contribute to the rich ceramic history we have inherited.

Each participant is asked to bring images of current work and to share their experiences and influences, and should come to the workshop with a clear, simple goal and be ready to take risks.

Media and Techniques

We will design forms with paper-cut out shapes, fabricate prototypes using those designs, make mold of the prototypes, slip cast porcelain in the molds, marbleize colored clays, and use brushes and glazes to create surfaces. Firing will be at cone 6 in oxidation.

Andrew Martin:

Andrew Martin is the author of “The Essential Guide to Mold Making and Slip Casting”. His work is known for fluidity, volume, structure, and for innovative forming and glazing processes. Andrew’s pieces emanate from his exploration of English, Asian, and Islamic pottery traditions. Andrew has taught throughout the US, received extensive awards, published articles, and is represented by numerous galleries in the United States. He currently lives in the Netherlands.